Space Tourism Managers

Space tourism is an emerging industry that currently involves suborbital flights on spacecraft, suborbital zero-pressure balloon trips in pressurized capsules, and orbital flights to the International Space Station and around the Earth. One day, space tourists may even walk on the surface of the moon and Mars, but this is far in the future. As of the publication of this article, very few space tourists have participated in suborbital or orbital flights, and the cost of such a trip is prohibitive except for high-net-worth individuals (i.e., those with liquid assets of $1 million or more). Space tourism managers (STMs) oversee the space tourism programs for their companies and perform duties such as program development, prospecting for and negotiating partnerships with other commercial space companies and with NASA and other governmental agencies, developing marketing programs, and creating tourist flight training programs. Space tourism managers are also known as space tourism program managers.

Salary Range

$50,000 to $100,000+

Minimum Education Level

Master's Degree

Certification/License

None

Outlook

Faster than the Average

Personality Traits

Enterprising

Problem-Solving

Organized

Career Ladder

Consultant, Chief Executive, or Professor

Space Tourism Manager

Lower-Level Space Operations Professional